This invention relates to a monorail conveyor system. Such conveyor systems in the past have been made primarily of steel components suspended from steel supporting members bolted or welded to a building superstructure, the monorail track comprising continuous lengths of I-beam welded together serially at their ends. Conventional monorail systems have included and still comprise steel conveyor trolleys movable upon the I-beam monorail track by means of steel drive chain linkage engageable with the trolleys. This type of monorail conveyor system has been in operation for many years with little, if any, significant modification.
The problems attending such prior art monorail conveyor systems have included high initial material and installation costs, high maintenance and repair costs, very high noise pollution, and a lack of color coding for safety and identification purposes. The limitations and problems apply as much to the conveyor trolley as they do to the monorail track itself. Because the principal components of steel monorail conveyor track must be welded together, skilled workmen at high hourly rates are required to make these installations, to assemble and install the equipment, and to maintain it. Since paint or exterior finishes adhere very poorly to steel surfaces located and operating in areas and atmospheres having a relatively oily or chemical vapor content, it is practically impossible to maintain a color on the monorail components, including the trolleys, which would function as a signal that such apparatus is present and that there may be a danger to personnel in its area of operation. The lack or failure of color coding monorail components also constitutes an insufficieny to provide an identification of those components which are or can be carried by the system. The high decibel noise quotient results in major part from the difficulty in welding and maintaining sections of the monorail in a level attachment of the trolley riding I-beam surfaces, so that a loud clickety-clack occurs each time a steel trolley rides across a juncture of the I-beam monorail track. Where hundreds of such junctures and trolleys are present, the conveyor noise is, in some instances, highly discomforting, significantly decreasing worker efficiency.